White Mold Problem

[gelm2500]

I believe I am suffering from a white mold infestation. Seems like it may have been touched upon within several threads on this board, but none have (or at least none that I've seen) shown detailed steps on how to remove the plague.

Here's the background: I've had my spa for 6 years, as of 3 months ago I noticed what looked like white flakes floating in the water. I can best describe it as what it would look like if you put paper in the water and it broke down into the fibers. I originally thought it was organic in nature and raised the bromine levels to kill it off. When that didn’t happen, I drained it, scrubbed it, and refilled. It took about 2-3 days, but the flakes returned. After some research, I thought that maybe it may be a hardness problem. The local water is somewhat hard. However, test stripes showed alkalinity to be within specs or at least not abnormally high. Today, I’m back at thinking the problem is organic in nature. From several sources (professional, friends, and the web) I have been told that white mold is probably the culprit. The mold is fairly resistant to bromine and chlorine. Sunlight is an effective agent against it, but the mold within the pipes is protected.

Making the problem going away appears to be somewhat labor intensive and sort of hit or miss.

My question to everyone who reads this is what can you tell me about my situation/symptoms? I sincerely appreciate all feedback. For those that need specifics: I use bromine. There is a functioning ozonator. I drain and clean in accordance with manufacturer specs. We don’t use it that much now (3-4 times a month), but it has been used heavily in the past. It can go a month without use. After use, I typically shock. The amount increases if my kids use it or we have friends over. I clean the filter every 3-4 weeks. The current filter is 8 mos old. It has never been dry. Even if it is not used, I watch the chemicals to make sure they are in spec.

Thanks

[hottub.pool_boy]

If you have a local dealer to test water and balance you up, great. Otherwise, balance the water first yourself. Go out and get yourself a 1lb. bottle of spa chlorine, dichlor. Chlorine is compatible with bromine. Add about 1 cup of the spa chlorine with jets running and spa cover off for 1 hour. Remove your filter(s), hose them off, put in a bucket of water with 1/2 cup spa chlorine, let stand for i day. Put bucket out of reach of small children or a dog tempted to drink it. Test spa to see if you have a free bromine/chlorine level. If you do, the next day reinstall your filters after hosing them off well.

By the way, by adding spa chlorine to an existing bromine spa, the chlorine instantly turns into bromine but with some extra kick.

That should do it. If not, drain it. Super-sanitize that filter and start again.

[gelm2500]

Thanks for the advice. I’ve been collecting information where ever I can on this subject. What are your thoughts on this theory: Is it possible that there is too much bromine in the water and it has become supersaturated and what I am seeing is the bromine fallout of that supersaturated solution? I have increased the amount of flow through the bromine cartridge and am shocking at shortened intervals. Bromine in the water can only reach a certain point until it cannot stay dissolved. Is it possible that this is what is occurring here? Deductive reasoning tells me that I can throttling back on the bromine and over time see if this is what is happening or not. Does this sound plausible? I was wondering about your thoughts.

Do ozonators lose their effectiveness over time? At 6 years old, how effective will my ozonator be?

Thanks for the reply, looking forward to your responses.

[hottub.pool_boy]

1st if your ozone is a uv-type, it's a bit past its 18-22 month effectiveness. If you do your research, there are some really good uv units available today. Corona Discharge has shown some better longevity.

Over-saturation? Doubtful. Where are your readings on the water test or from your strips?

[waterbear]

If you are draining and refilling your spa every 3-4 months as is commonly recommeded it is unlikely that you have too much bromide in your water. I would look to other causes.